What Has Become
by SkywalkerChild
Summary: Post "Endgame"--Somethings are harder to forget


Disclaimer: Paramount and the Roddenberry estate own the characters; Uncle Kracker owns the  
song. I'm not making any money off of this.  
Note: Same story, just a little cleaner this time I think. Always nice for a double review  
from people, but don't feel obligated.  
Rating:PG  
Summary: Post "EndGame", Chakotay and Seven are married...but I still made it JetC...  
  
  
What Has Become  
  
  
You don't know how you met me, you don't know why  
You can't turn around and say goodbye  
All you know is when I'm with you  
I make you free  
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea  
  
Janeway looked up again from her coffee. People were coming in and out of the restaurant,  
but the man she was supposed to meet was nowhere to be found. *Maybe he chickend out* she   
thought as she sipped her quickly-cooling drug. She had that thought every time he was   
late, and deep inside she would never blame him if he didn't show.  
  
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around smiling. The feel of his hand on her   
shoulder was something she could never, would never forget. It was as familiar to her as  
the halls of "Voyager."  
  
He looked good in non-Starfleet-issue clothing; she was glad he had decided against the   
commission he'd been offered. She too had abandoned rank for the evening, slipping into   
something blue--a color she knew he loved on her.  
  
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," she said as he sat down across from her.  
  
"I got tied up in a student-conference," he replied, politely dismissing the waitress.   
"I can't believe how long my students will talk."  
  
Janeway laughed, and she saw a smile creep onto his face. They couldn't stay here long, but  
just for an instant, they would pretend that everything was normal. He looked at her as  
he always had, and she held his hand when no one was looking.  
  
*****  
  
Follow me and everything is all right  
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night  
And if you wanna leave I can guarantee  
You won't find nobody else like me  
  
She had used the hotel room's replicator to make dinner. He had offered to do it for her,  
but she had insisted. Just like them, Kathryn's cooking had not changed in years.  
  
Surprisingly, dinner was not burned beyond recognition, and the wine removed whatever problems they might have had with it.  
  
"You're tired," she said, leaning against his chest as they drank the last of their   
replicated wine. "Would you like to get some sleep?"  
  
"I didn't think I came here to sleep." His voice was slow; it felt like he was holding back  
a yawn.  
  
"We're here to spend time together," she corrected him, standing and helping him to stand.   
"If you need sleep, then we'll lie down together and take a nap."  
  
He didn't protest, much to her surprise. She could tell by the way he held onto her that  
he felt bad about this. Kathryn, however, had spent seven years without his body next to   
her; one more night wouldn't kill her. He climbed into the bed and she brought the   
blankets up around him tightly. He took her hand gently and squeezed it. "Thank you."  
  
*****  
  
I'm not worried 'bout the ring you wear  
'Cause as long as no one knows  
Then nobody can care  
You're feelin' guilty, and I'm well aware  
But you don't look ashamed  
And baby I'm not scared  
  
She kissed him once...twice...and then he responded as he slowly awoke. It was 0300 hours and he would have to leave soon; she didn't want to waste any more of their evening. *No*,  
she corrected herself, *this evening was not a waste; you spent time with him, didn't you?  
You are lucky to have that.*  
  
He didn't open his eyes, even as he drew her close and let his hands roam where they wished.  
He had never called out his wife's name, probably because the 24 year old Borg body felt   
quite different than one as old as her's. But keeping his eyes closed, he could pretend it  
really was his wife.  
  
  
He smiled now, his arm around her shoulders. The clock had ticked to 0500, but the need  
of his returning to his wife didn't seem quite so urgent any more. Chakotay knew somewhere  
inside that this was wrong; that he had a wife at home and a baby on the way. But the seven   
years he had spent with Kathryn Janeway were more difficult to forget than anyone could  
possibly understand.  
  
*****  
  
Follow me and everything is all right  
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night  
And if you wanna leave, I can guarantee  
You won't find nobody else like me  
  
Won't give you money I can't give you the sky  
You're better off if you don't ask why  
I'm not the reason that you go astray  
We'll be all right if you don't ask me to stay.  
  
"Do you have to leave?" he asked as she zipped up her dress. She had fallen back asleep and  
woken up fifteen minutes late for work. It had been hard to drag herself away from the bed  
and his arms, but she had to get back home and then to work before her meeting with the   
Admirals.  
  
"Yes, and so do you," she said, searching the under the bed for a shoe she knew had made it  
into the room last night. "I hope you have an extra set of clothes at your office, or the   
students will suspect you never went home to your wife." The words hung there in the air.  
Kathryn had once again become practical, a trait she left at work on Thursday nights.  
  
"Yes, I keep a suit hanging in my closet, just in case..." his voice trailed off. "Play   
hookie today, Kathryn; I'll call and cancel all my classes."  
  
She shook her head, finding her purse on the table where she left it. "No, Chakotay, I have  
an important meeting today. I'll see you next week though; make sure to send me the   
restaurant name by Tuesday."  
  
She walked over to the bed and kissed him softly. He smiled a little and then reached over  
to the bedstand for his ring.  
  
*****  
  
Follow me and everything is all right  
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night  
And if you wanna leave, I can guarantee  
You won't find no body else like me  
  



End file.
